Merchandising display and sales package



H. W. KULP Oct. 20, 1936.

MERCHANDISING DISPLAY AND SALES PACKAGE Filed Dec. 16, 1935 Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES MERCHANDISING DISPLAY AND SALES PACKAGE Harry W. Kulp, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to K-D Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 16, 1935, Serial No. 54,755

9 Claims.

This invention relates to merchandising display and sales packages.

Heretofore it has been usual to display various tools separately in a display case or loosely on a store counter or fastened in any of a number of different ways to a large display board arranged at some conspicuous point in the store or salesroom. It has also been quite common practice of recent years to arrange sets of tools in chests for sale as a set and to display them as a set, some of the tools in the set just being placed loosely in the chest and it being necessary to lift and throw back the top of the chest in order to display the set of tools contained in the chest. The present invention has for its primary objects to provide a merchandising display and sales package comprising a strong durable chest or casing in association with a set of contained tools, devices or articles, the individual articles of the set and the casing being so combined and associated that each article will be securely retained in place in the casing and in spaced relation to each other and clearly visible to the unobstructed vision of the prospective purchaser when the casing is closed to prevent removal of any of said articles or tools; to provide such a package which will permit of the most scrutinizing inspection by the prospective purchaser of three faces of each tool or device without any occasion to open the casing or to remove any of the tools or articles therefrom; to provide such a package which will facilitate careful inspection of each tool or article and their comparison with each other in a given set; to provide such a display sales package which may be handed either wrapped or unwrapped to the purchaser without the risk of any of the articles or tools comprised therein being lost therefrom regardless of the position or successive positions in which carried by 40 the purchaser and notwithstanding how carelessly the same may be handled by the purchaser; to provide as part of such package a casing which may be retained by the purchaser and permanently used as a convenient portable chest or cab-- inet for the reception and safe-keeping of the tools or articles and their arrangement in their proper places in spaced relation to each other for easy inspection and easy withdrawal for use as needed; and to provide such a casing of such construction as to have the minimum number of movable parts and as to avoid the use of solder, brazing or welding, rivets or other connecting means except for the mounting of the one movable part and to generally so form or construct 5: the casing as to adapt it to production, including assembly, almost entirely by large quantity sheet metal stamping operations whereby the costs of production will be reduced to a minimum.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a sheet metal 5 blank which is to be bent up to form the body of the casing;

Figure 2, a similar view of a blank from which is formed the closure member or gate of the casing; 10

Figure 3, a top plan view of the complete finished merchandising display and sales package;

Figure 4, a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5, a sectional view on the line 55 of 15 Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6, a front end elevation of the package; and

Figure 7, a fragmentary detail sectional View on the line '|l of Figure 3, looking in the direc- 20 tion of the arrow.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the body of the casing'is formed up from a preferably integral sheet metal stamping having a bottom portion I, front end portion 2, side portions 8, rear end portion 4 and top 6, the sides 8 being bent up at right angles to the face of bottom I along dotted fold lines at respectively, the front end portion being bent up at right angles to the face of bottom I along dotted fold line a to lie snugly between the adjacent end portions of sides 8, therear end portion 4 being similarly bent up at right angles to the face of bottom I toward front end 2 along dotted fold line b to lie snugly between the opposed rear end portions of sides 8, and top portion 6 being folded forwardly and downwardly along fold line 0 to lie parallel to, or substantially parallel to, the upper face of bottom I and to fit snugly between the upper straight edge rear portions of the sides 8.

The blank from which said casing body is formed is preferably stamped from sheet metal stock of such weight, gauge or thickness and of such characteristics that when the blank has been stamped out and folded into body form as above described while the body of the casing as a whole and all portions thereof will have a certain inherent resiliency, or preferably so, all portions of the body under normal, and all but destructive, usage will permanently remain set in the normal positions to which bent as above described, due to the nature of the material from which made itself and without the need for connection by welding, brazing, riveting or any other form of connection reliance being placed solely 5 upon the permanent set of the sheet metal itself. Of course, being of resilient sheet metal one or more portions may be temporarily bent or sprung away from each other out of normal relationship but will promptly spring back to normal as soon as released unless excessive destructive pressure is applied resulting in giving the portion or portions involved out of normal. However, the accidental "application ofsuch excessive or destructive pressures is highly improbable.

Two transverse series and 3 respectively of transversely spaced dividing or partitioning tongues or flanges are stamped out around three sides from the bottom I and arefolded vertically upward along the respective dotted'fold lines e to extend vertically upward preferably substantially at right angles to the upper face of bottom I, and similar tongues orflangesl, equal in number to the tongues of each of series 5 and 3, extend from the free edge of the top 6 and are bent vertically downward along their respective dotted fold lines e to extend vertically downward preferably substantially atright angles to the lower face of top 6 and the upper face of bottom I. we a The series of flanges or tongues 5 is located near the front 2 and the series 1 near the back 4, with the series 3 located intermediate the series 5 and 1 and preferably nearer to, but still appreciably in advance of the series 1, so as to provide for spacing contact with each tool or device at three distinct points spaced from each other lengthwise of each such tool or device, as well as at two points on opposite sides of the tool or device spaced from each other lengthwise thereof to definitely prevent any turning or twisting of each such tool or device.

The closure member or gate is preferably formed from the same stock as the body, being initially stamped out in the form of the blank shown in Fig. 2 and then folded orbent at right lower portion bent outwardly slightly to provide an integral snap catch l4 to cooperate with and snap over and fit behind the laterally outwardly bent catch lug I2 preferably integral with the upper portion ofthe corresponding side 8 front end portion.

Preferably the body front 2 will have hole [0 punched in it during the stamping operation and similarly the closure or gate front panel El will have hole punched in it during its stamping operation, said holes 10 and It) being brought into registry during the assembly operation to receive a connecting pivot pin [3 to pivotally mount said gate or closure member on the body.

Preferably the front 2 will be formed with a guide and retaining tongue 9 stamped therefrom along three sides and to be first bent outward along dotted fold line 3, and again bent, this time in the reverse direction, so that the tongue 9 will be ofiset from and substantially parallel to the adjacent front face portion of front 2 and disposed at such distance therefrom that the intervening portion of the front panel H of the gate or closure member will be snugly received between said lug 9 and the opposed front face of front 2, thus safeguarding the gate or closure member against any twisting strains that otherwise might result in moving the hook or latch M in an endwise swinging movement free of the latch lug [2. However, while itis preferred that this retaining lug 9 shall be provided, it is not essential to my invention.

The casing is formed to cooperate with, and hold in spaced relation to each other, a plurality of pivoted lever, or scissor-type, or plier-type tools, the top 6 being spaced a considerable distance. corresponding to the spread of the handles or levers in the closed condition of the tools, to receive the free end portions of said handles or levers edgewise between them, and the front 2 is of such vertical height that when the flange l5 lies fiat or flush against the top edge thereof it will overhang and closely approach or touch the forward end portions or points or noses of the tools or articles, or will touch the noses of some and overhang, but not touch, the noses of others,

The flanges or partitioning tongues l' are disposed in longitudinal registry with the corresponding tongues of each of the series 3 and 5 so as to constitute in the embodiment illustrated three sets of tongues'in a longitudinal direction, eachset comprising a tongue5, an intermediate upwardly presented tongue 3 and a rear downwardly presented tongue 1, each such set leaving a narrow space between it and the adjacent set or sets or between it and the adjacent side 8 of the casing for the edgewise reception of one of the tools, pliers or devices A and serving to partition off each such tool or device A from the other tools or pliers of the set and to hold all of said tools or pliers A edgewise in the casing spaced at a substantial distance from each of the adjacent tools or pliers so as to permit easy, full and clear inspection of each tool or plier or the set while held in the casing.

By shoving the end portions of the handles or levers of the pliers or tools A well back into the rear of the casing between the top 6 and the rear portion of the bottom I, preventing turning or twisting of the tools or pliers A by engaging them with the opposed edges of the partitioning tongues or flanges i, 3 and 5 at three points of their length and on opposite sides, and by preventing the lifting from arranged position of their points or noses by the overhanging flange l5 of the gate or closure member, which in turn is held closed by the snap latch M, the tools, pliers or devices will be securely held in the casing and the package as a whole may be picked up and turned in various positions to permit the most careful inspection by, a prospective purchaser without any occasion to remove any of the tools or pliers from the package and without any risk of anyof the tools, pliers or devices dropping out or becoming lost and with elimination to a large extent of the risk of pilfering. Also, in case of a purchase, the tools or devices and casing are so intimately related and associated that the unitary package may be handed directly over the counter unwrapped to the purchaser without need to wrap it or put it in a carton to prevent the loss of any of the tools or devices, thus very materially cutting down the sales expense while providing more attractivemerchandise.

While I have described and shown an embodiment of my merchandising display and sales package comprising a casing and a set of four small pliers, it being noted that Figures 3 to 6 inclusive are made to full size scale from an actual commercial'specimen, the form may of course be varied to accommodate a set including a larger number of tools or devices and may furtherbe modified as may be necessary. to ac-.

commodate it to use with various sizes, forms and constructions of tools, pliers or devices.

However, the embodiment shown is my preferred form and the invention is believed to be particularly well suited in connection with plier and scissor type tools.

Instead of using a separate solid rivet or pivot pin l3 as shown in Fig. 6, which in this respect may be considered a modified form, the hole I0, as shown in Figure 2 which is made to full size scale, may be made or formed with an appreciably smaller diameter than the hole I!) shown in Fig.1, which also is drawn to full size scale, and in the assembly operation the material closely adjacent to and surrounding the hole ID will be forced inwardly through the hole ID, splitting in the process into segments, and the ends of such segments will be upset or clinched or folded back flat against the rear face of the front I, thus forming a hollow rivet, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, this being my present preferred form as giving a complete casing consisting simply of two sheet metal stampings pivotally connected without need to use a separate and distinct rivet which on a large quantity production basis is an appreciable item of expense and its elimination a substantial economy.

I claim:

1. A merchandise, display and sales package comprising a sheet metal casing having a supporting bottom, sides and front and rear ends connected to said bottom at substantially right angles thereto, and a short confining top panel extending transversely between the upper edge portions of the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of said top of the casing open, in combination with a plurality of substantially equi-distantly transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues, each said row comprising two tongues extending upward from said bottom and a rear tongue depending downwardly from said top panel; a plurality of pliers each of a length to just snugly fit between the front and rear ends of said casing when in closed condition and being respectively arranged edgewise in the respective longitudinally extending spaces between the said longitudinal rows of partitioning tongues and between the respective outer rows thereof and the respective adjacent sides and having their handle portions received between, and engaged on opposite sides respectively by, said top panel and the rear portion of the bottom with their noses substantially in contact with, and lying below the top edge of, the front end; a gate movably mounted on said front end and having a rearwardly projecting flange extending substantially for the full width of said front and in closed position overlying and substantially engaging the nose of each plier and projecting rearwardly from said front end for a distance exceeding the difference between the length of the shortest of said pliers in closed condition and the distance between the opposed faces of said front and rear ends, and yieldable means for holding said gate closed.

2. A merchandise display and sales package comprising a sheet metal casing having a supporting bottom, sides and front and rearends connected to said bottom at substantially right angles thereto, and a short confining top panel extending transversely between the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing open, in combination with a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues, each said row comprising two tongues extending upward from said bottom and a rear tongue depending downwardly from said top panel; a plurality of pliers each of a length to just snugly fit between the front and rear ends of said casing when in closed condition and being respectively arranged edgewise in the respective longitudinally extending spaces between the said longitudinally extending rows of partitioning tongues and having their handle portions received between, and engaged on opposite sides respectively by, said top panel and the rear portion of the bottom with their noses substantially in contact with said front end; a gate movably mounted on the front portion of the casing and having a rearwardly projecting flange extending substantially for the full width of said front portion and in closed position overlying and substantially engaging the nose of each plier and projecting rearwardly from the front end for a distance exceeding the difference between the length of the shortest of said pliers in closed condition and the distance between the opposed faces of said front and rear ends, and yieldable means for holding said gate closed.

3. A merchandise display and sales package comprising a sheet metal casing having a sup porting bottom, sides and front and rear ends connected to said bottom, and a short top panel extending transversely between the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues; a plurality of pliers each of a length to just snugly fit between the front and rear ends of said casing when in closed condition and being respectively arranged edgewise in the respective stalls between the said longitudinally extending rows of partitioning tongues and having their handle portions received between, and engaged on opposite sides respectively by, said top panel and the rear portion of the bottom with their noses substantially in contact with said front end; a gate movably mounted on said casing and in closed position spanning the distance between said sides and overlying the nose of each plier at a point to the rear of its front end by a distance exceeding the difference between the length of the shortest of said pliers in closed condition and the distance between the opposed faces of said front and rear ends, and means for holding said gate closed.

4. A merchandise display and sales package comprising a casing having a supporting bottom, sides and front and rear ends. connected to said bottom, and a short top panel extending transversely between the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues; a plurality of pliers each of a length to just snugly fit between the front and rear ends of said casing when in closed condition and being respectively arranged edgewise in the respective stalls between the said longitudinally extending rows of partitioning tongues and having their handle portions received between, and engaged on opposite sides respectively, by said top panel and the rear portion of the bottom with their noses substantially in contact with said front end; and means spanning the distance between said sides adjacent their front ends and overlying the noses of said pliers for preventing their removal.

5. A merchandise display and sales package comprising a casing having a supporting bottom, sides and front and rear ends connected to said bottom, and a short top panel extending transversely between the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues; a plurality of articles each of a length to just snugly fit between the front and rear ends of said casing and being respectively arranged in the respective stalls between said longitudinally extending rows of partitioning tongues with their rear end portions received between, and engaged on opposite sides respectively by, said top panel and the rear portion of the bottom; and means spanning the distance between said sides and overlying the front end portion of each said article at a point to the rear of its front end by a distance exceeding the difference between the length of the shortest of said articles and the distance between the opposed faces of said front and rear ends.

6. A casing for a set of tools, articles or devices, said casing comprising an integral sheet metal body having a supporting bottom, substantially parallel sides projecting substantially at right angles to said bottom, front and rear ends projecting substantially at right angles to said bottom substantially parallel to each other and substantially spanning the distance between the corresponding end portions of said sides and substantially making right angles therewith but unconnected therewith except through the medium of said bottom, and a short top panel integral with and extending forwardly from and substantially at right angles to said rear end. and lying substantially parallel to the rear portion of said bottom and substantially spanning the interval between said sides but unconnected therewith except through the medium of said rear end and said bottom and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of substantially equi-distantly transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically disposed partitioning tongues, each said row comprising two tongues integral with and extending upward from said bottom and a rear tongue integral with and depending downwardly from said top panel, said longitudinally extending rows of tongues defining between them a series of spaced longitudinally extending stalls respectively for the reception in spaced relation of a plurality of articles, and movable means spanning the interval between the upper portions of the forward portions of said sides to retain said articles in arranged spaced relation in said casing and in their respective stalls.

'7. A casing for a set of tools, articles or devices, said casing comprising an integral sheet metal body having a supporting bottom, substantially parallel sides projecting substantially at right angles to said bottom, front and rear ends projecting substantially at right angles to said bottom substantially parallel to each other and substantially spanning the distance between the c rresponding end portions of said sides and longitudinally extending rows of partitioning tongues, each said row comprising two tongues integral with and extending upward from said bottom and a rear tongue integral with and depending downwardly from said top panel, said longitudinally extending rows of tongues defining between them a series of spaced longitudinally extending stalls respectively for the reception in spaced relation of a plurality of artiales, and means spanning the interval between the forward portions of said sides to retain said articles in arranged spaced relation in said casing and in their respective stalls.

' 8. A casing for a set of tools, articles or devices, said casing comprising an integral sheet metal body having a bottom, sides extending from said bottom, front and rear ends extending from said bottom and substantially spanning the distance between the corresponding end portions of said sides but unconnected therewith except through the medium of said bottom, and a short'top panel integral with and extending forwardly from said rear end and substantially spanning the interval between the rear portions of said sides and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of substantially equi-distantly transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertically extending partitioning tongues integral with said casing and defining between them a series of spaced longitudinally extending stalls respectively for the reception in spaced relation of a plurality of articles, and means spanning the interval between the forward portions of said sides to retain said articles in arranged spaced relation in said casing and in their respective stalls.

9. A casing for a set of tools, articles or devices, said casing comprising an integral sheet metal body having a bottom, sides extending from said bottom, front and rear ends extending from said 0 bottom and substantially spanning the distance between the corresponding end portions of said sides, and a short top panel integral with and extending forwardly from said rear end and substantially spanning the interval between said sides but unconnected therewith except through the medium of said rear end and bottom and leaving the major portion of the top of said casing uncovered, in combination with a plurality of substantially equi-distantly transversely spaced longitudinally extending rows of vertical- 1y extending partitioning tongues integral with said casing and defining between them a series of spaced longitudinally extending stalls respectively for the reception in spaced relation of a plurality of articles, and means spanning the interval between said sides to retain said articles in arranged spaced relation in said casing and in their respective stalls.

HARRY W. KULP. 

